


Panic

by Cum_plete



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Hormones, Light BDSM, M/M, Mpreg, Out of Character, Overprotective John, Overprotective Mycroft, Pregnant Sherlock, Talk of Pregnancy Complications
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-18
Updated: 2014-05-18
Packaged: 2018-01-25 15:21:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1653323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cum_plete/pseuds/Cum_plete
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Take an internet search and add a pregnant Sherlock Holmes with a (not-so) healthy dose of hormones and you get the recipe for a major melt down (tears included).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Panic

**Author's Note:**

> Includes discussion of pregnancy complications.

Why did the internet have to be so comprehensive? 

Article after article, page after page, even videos and pictures. All, it seemed, intended to freak Sherlock out. 

\--

Now normally Sherlock would not have it known that he was ignorant on a subject, it was rare that he truly knew nothing about some obscure subject or another. This time though was different. Sherlock had either never learned a single thing about babies or he had deemed it unimportant and deleted it from his mind palace. Whichever one it was didn’t truly matter, other than the fact that it lead him here, to doing internet searches about pregnancy, parenthood, and babies in general. 

His searching started out tame. Conception and fertilization, zygotes and hormones, the science of babies and Omega carriers. All very simple for Sherlock to understand (but what wasn’t simple for Sherlock to understand, truly, if he cared to try). 

It wasn’t until maybe an hour in that Sherlock got to the point in gestation where he currently sat, five months, three weeks and six days in. Apparently the baby was already hearing the sound of his heartbeat and voice, developing specialized areas of its brain for cognition and even swallowing. 

Sherlock didn’t think any of the pervious steps in gestation were anything special, just like other mammals he had studied, but the fact that as he browsed he could feel his little one move inside him, well that was something. Weird but still special. 

Going through the rest of the gestation, clicking at random links about lactation and natural births as he went along, Sherlock decided there was good reason he had deleted this information at one time. It was almost exactly the same as gorilla gestation, with a few added areas for brain development. 

The only things that Sherlock was committing to memory wholly (instead of just copy and pasting from his gorilla gestation folder) were the tips on how to stay healthy and comfortable throughout the last trimester of his pregnancy. Male Omegas had notoriously uncomfortable pregnancies and Sherlock was going to be as careful with his little Johnlock baby as possible. 

Continuing his search into precautions, preparations and even healthy eating habits (Sherlock shuddered as he saw how many calories he would need to consume close to delivery) Sherlock came upon a page that talked of the possible complications that male Omegas could experience pregnancy and delivery. 

Three minutes later Sherlock began to panic. 

\--

It had been a relatively normal day at St. Barts, the A&E was abnormally deserted but at least there was one interesting case, which was a rarity these days. John rarely found anything at work entertaining or interesting anymore, not after running with Sherlock for so long. 

Lately the only thing that got him interested in a case was if it involved babies or pregnancy. Seeing the gravid Omegas or their tiny little babies made John giddy while simultaneously making that silly “kid face” appear, that one that proclaims to all who see it that you have just melted inside, just a little. 

Nearly six months into Sherlock’s pregnancy John spent most of his down time at St. Barts reacquainting himself with pediatric medicine and prenatal care. He’d done his rotation in med school of course, and he even had to deal with a fellow soldier who showed up for duty not knowing he was pregnant, but it’d been quite some time since he had dealt extensively with pregnancy, Omega males especially. 

Omega males were rare, but not so rare that it was odd to see a pregnant man on the street or smell that distinct twinge of Omega while in the pub surrounded by blokes. Omegas made up approximately 37% of the population, with only about 7 or 8% of those being male. By last count London had a population of 8.3 million people and should have about 230,325 male Omegas living within its borders. But according to the last census there were about 430,000 male Omegas with addresses in London, about 14% of the Omega population. Not exactly abnormal, male Omegas tended to flock to places where they were treated well and felt safe to start families, not to mention places that had a large percentage of unmated Alphas. London had always been a place that people flocked to, either to escape or to explore, but this meant lots of single people, Alpha and Omega alike. 

Due to this large percentage of male Omegas John was privileged to see at least a dozen of them in the A&E a week, and at least a couple were pregnant or had their children with them. For some reason John could always pick out the babies of male Omegas. They weren’t visibly different and they didn’t have a different smell, but to John it was as easy to pinpoint as if they had been painted a different color. This meant that even passing a family with small children on the street and noticing children born to a male Omega could bring that “kid face” on. Come to think of it, it probably made him look like a creeper. 

\--

Walking into 221 always put a smile on John’s face. The smell of Sherlock, now more pronounced with the pregnancy hormones that screamed “pregnant Omega, protect me, cuddle me, love me” always made that secret little smirk appear on his face. That one that says “yep, I did that” in a tone that even sounded smug in his head. 

But today there was a discordant note to Sherlock’s scent that he hadn’t smelt in quite some time, not since Lestrade, Mycorft and John had ganged up on Sherlock to enforce the “no running after criminals with weapons” rule shortly after his pregnancy was discovered. Sherlock argued for running after those without weapons but that was vetoed as well. Now Sherlock, accompanied by John or Mycroft in extreme cases, was only allowed to view a crime scene and give his assessment, and promptly return home where it was safe. 

The scent had John immediately on alert, a mix of fear and dread coiling in his belly as he reached for his side arm. Slowly inching up the stairs, hoping his entrance into the flat had not been noticed yet, John made his way to the door of 221B. Upon reaching the top of the stairs John readied his gun and pressed his ear close to the door, even in a hostage situation Sherlock would know that John was there and find a way to give him some slip of information about the situation behind the door. But this time all John heard was the click of a mouse, and oddly enough a small snuffling noise. 

Crouching down to make himself a smaller target John let the door swing open, his gun being the first thing through the crack that appeared. What he saw confused him. Sherlock was sitting at his desk, laptop open in front of him, crying. 

John stayed crouched; gun readied for a nonexistent threat, and just stared. 

Sherlock Holmes was crying. 

\-- 

John had only ever seen Sherlock cry twice, and neither time was for the normal reasons a person would cry. Grief, fear, shock, anger; Sherlock didn’t cry at these emotions. So far only pain med induced delirium and sexual frustration had managed to squeeze tears from the stoic mans eyes. 

(Even though a large part of him was panicking about what Sherlock could possibly be crying about another part was smugly remembering the heat Sherlock got pregnant. John had tied him up and teased him mercilessly for more than three hours before sliding into his tight heat and knotting his oh so greedy hole. Sherlock’s tears had squeezed out his tightly clenched lids as he writhed as far as his bonds would allow and whispered broken pleas.) 

The fact that the two times John had seen Sherlock’s (not fake) tears had been under serious duress made him clench his hand on his weapon, once more scanning the room for a threat. John’s eyes swept over the exits and windows and discovered Sherlock was alone. Once he had determined that there was no threat within the room John stood, holstered his weapon and closed the door behind him. 

Approaching the sobbing Sherlock John kneeled down next to the desk and placed his hand on Sherlock’s knee.

“Sher? Are you okay? Is it the baby?”

Sherlock stiffened when John touched him, but seemed to be soothed by Johns tone and soon relaxed. In a very un-Sherlock move, he leaned toward John, clearly seeking physical reassurance. John took Sherlock’s hand from the laptop and held it in his, using it to pull the man until he faced John and John could look into his eyes. Keeping one hand on Sherlock’s he placed the other on the side of Sherlock’s face, using his thumb to wipe the tear stained cheek. 

After letting loose the most pathetic little whine John had ever heard (even in the midst of passion) Sherlock practically collapsed into Johns arms. Coming out of his seat and kneeling on the floor in front of John Sherlock put his head on John’s shoulder and let out another heart breaking sob. 

John was starting to get really concerned. 

\--

Prior to the heat where Sherlock fell pregnant the couple had no plans for children. Their lives were busy, dangerous and hectic; there was no place for a baby. They didn’t even have room for an infant, let alone all the stuff it would need as it grew. Their flat was much too small to accommodate a growing family. 

On top of the danger and space issue was the two men themselves. John had enough trouble reminding Sherlock to take care of himself, (“One mean every few days is not acceptable Sherlock!” “I don’t care if the best place to store your experiment is in the microwave, we cook food in that!” “Sherlock, unless you want to spend your heat alone with the toys you need to track your cycle enough for me to take time off in advance. Why don’t you just get a calendar?”) a baby would have been added stress that John just couldn’t deal with alone. 

Most people who knew Sherlock would say that there was no way in the seven hells he would be a good mum. It was traditionally the Omega parent’s job to care for the children, but Sherlock’s general demeanor didn’t really scream “caretaker”. 

All of these things together meant that both men had correctly deduced that children were not a viable option for the near future. Neither men seemed to have a problem with the lack of offspring; they didn’t feel bereft like many Omegas reported when they failed to conceive before their late twenties. At least John had thought, until Sherlock had struck up a conversation while chasing a serial kidnapper across the roofs of downtown London. 

“We should have a baby,” Sherlock said out of the blue. No indication of this type of conversation on the horizon, no leading into it; just Sherlock and his regular blunt self. 

John stumbled and almost fell down a fire escape. Sherlock only looked back at him like he was an idiot and carried on running and jumping like he hadn’t just dropped a huge bomb on their relationship. 

John panted as he jogged beside Sherlock; he could see the kidnapper jump the next roof and prepared to leap as well. 

“What brought this on now?” 

Sherlock bounded over the ledge and landed on the tips of his toes on the next building before responding. 

“Why not now? We are perfectly capable of running and talking at the same time, and now was when I thought of it.” 

Stumbling again John thought, “This has got to be the worst time to have a conversation this big,” but then he remembered the fact that Sherlock waited until the day before his heat to tell John he wanted to mate with him and reevaluated his opinion. At least Sherlock was giving him advance notice and not just springing the “hey, I’m off my birth control” on John when he was knot deep and already tied. 

This was progress at least. 

“I thought we agreed that our life was too dangerous for children? I mean we are chasing a rapist across the roof tops of London…”

Just then John had to duck and pull Sherlock down with him as a gunshot went wide and hit the roof next to their feet. 

“See!? Not exactly a job for people with kids at home.” 

As Sherlock inched toward the ledge of the roof, readying himself to spring on the kidnapper who had stopped on the fire escape below to ascertain if his shot had connected he began to outline the reasons a child was a good idea. 

Sherlock was able to produce more than sixty good reasons (with examples and proof) between the moment John shot the perp in the knee to incapacitate him and when they left the Yard three hours later. 

Three months later when Sherlock went into heat again they were both free of birth control, suppressants and doubts. 

\--

John had expressed his doubts in a list. It included the before mentioned issues with space, time, danger and even the experiments Sherlock ran. Sherlock had very well thought out solutions for each of John’s concerns. 

Though they only rented out 221 B Mrs. Hudson had agreed to allow them to renovate the flat to include the attic and with the purchase of the building next door the couple would have more than enough room for a growing family. 

The danger of their jobs was more difficult for Sherlock to dismiss. For one he flat out refused to retire or cut back after their child was born. He did give concessions for during the pregnancy, but fully planned on being back on the chase once the baby was born. John once again brought up the danger they were both constantly in and Sherlock outlined a plan to provide for any eventuality where their child would be in danger. 

He had pie charts, graphs, tables and a list of phone numbers of trust worthy people longer than John’s arm. 

Sherlock was committed to the idea, apparently. 

It took two weeks and many conversations before John was on board. 

After that all they had to do was wait for Sherlock’s heat to hit. 

\--

A family. John had always hoped, in some deep hidden part of himself that Sherlock would someday want children with him, but he had pushed it deep long ago. 

Now he could have it all. A wonderful mate he was absolutely ass over tits for and a baby. 

He couldn’t wait. 

He was terrified. 

\--

John and Sherlock kneeled on the floor wrapped in one another for some time. Not only enough for John’s knee to begin to ache, but long enough for Sherlock’s tears to dry and his heart wrenching hiccupping sobs to abate. 

John leaned back, having to practically pry himself from the clinging (!) Sherlock. 

“Babe, can you tell me why you’re so upset?” 

John used the voice that worked on panicked parents and small children in the A&E, hoping that Sherlock would respond in a positive way and not smack him for being demeaning. (Mood swings were outrageous in male Omegas and Sherlock topped the hormone cake.) 

Sherlock looked up at him with tears still thick in his beautiful grey eyes and hiccupped again. Hoping to stop the oncoming crying fit before it started John took Sherlock’s face in his hands once again and said, “Love, whatever it is we can handle it together.” 

After taking a couple deep breaths Sherlock pulled back enough to point at the screen of the laptop. 

John wasn’t sure he wanted to leave Sherlock’s arms, as vulnerable as he seemed to be, but he needed to see what had the man so upset so he could help him deal with it. 

“Okay, let me look and I’ll be right back. I’m not going anywhere, just going to have a quick look. Okay?” 

After disengaging Sherlock John reached up onto the table and grabbed the laptop. Disconnecting the cords and bringing it to them seemed like a better idea then leaving his distraught mate sitting on the floor all alone. 

Once he had the laptop in hand he suddenly had a lapful of sniffling mate. Sherlock made sure John had room on his lap for the laptop but managed to drape himself over the rest of John’s legs. With the laptop high up toward his crotch and Sherlock curled around and on his legs he could feel the bulge that was their child, resting firmly against his lower calf. 

It reassured him. 

Sherlock wouldn’t have pressed the baby against John so firmly if the baby was hurt or in immediate danger. 

Refocusing his attention back to the screen of the laptop John scanned the page. At first glance it just seemed like a page on male Omega gestation and development, but as John scrolled he saw what had upset Sherlock so much. 

The page was a list of complications that might come with an Omega pregnancy. It wasn’t even the most probable ones either like pelvic pain with the splitting of the hips, or morning sickness; it was a very descriptive list of the most unfortunate cases in the history of Omega records. 

There were pictures of Omegas in the process of giving birth, tales of feeling horrible wrenching pain as the placenta detached and their baby suffocated, and birth defects that left the babies deformed or even stillborn. 

Though none of the stories were exactly untrue as it were, they were sensationalized to sound more likely and more threatening than they really were. They also made it sound likely that male Omegas would suffer these complications. 

For as rare as male Omegas were the medical community was surprisingly well equipped to deal with their pregnancies and births, in fact they had better survival rates than female Omegas. Out of the probable two hundred male Omega births in London a year maybe one every three or four years actually suffered severe complications. The last time a male Omega had died or lost their child during birthing was nearly six years ago, a fact the doctor of London were very proud of. 

Bringing up another tab John quickly brought up real, reliable sites that talked of male Omega births. He made sure to bring up information on the real risks that pregnant male Omegas had to worry about and how to prevent more severe complications. 

That finished John set the laptop to the side and set about comforting his distressed Omega. Sherlock had tightened himself around John’s legs like a snake and buried his face in the crease between John’s hip and thigh. John started to pet Sherlock’s hair back from his tear stained face, just trying to comfort his mate with his presence before he began to speak. 

“What brought this on love?” 

Sherlock’s head snapped up. His expression was a mixture of shock, anger and disbelief. “How can you ask me that?! You saw the site, the pictures, that video of the baby with no skull. She was missing a part of her brain John! That could happen to our baby and you’re asking me what’s bothering me?” 

Sherlock pushed himself up and away from John’s legs, struggling upright and trying to distance himself from the reach of John’s arms. John was having none of that though and he pulled Sherlock right back into his arms, forcing the pregnant man to lean on him once again, he resumed petting Sherlock’s hair. 

“Sherlock, I need you to calm down for me. Take a couple of deep breaths and try to calm down. The stress is not good for the baby. ” John knew mentioning the baby would ensure Sherlock attempted to calm himself instead of just upping his fit. 

Seeing no other options, as he was trapped against his mate and didn’t want to upset the babay, Sherlock did as he was directed and attempted to calm his racing heart and his even faster thoughts. As he breathed deeply he relaxed into John’s steady presence. John was a doctor, and though he wasn’t as intelligent as Sherlock (who was?) he still knew more about babies and pregnancy than Sherlock did. 

After a few minutes Sherlock’ heart rate had returned to normal and his body had gone soft against John. His breathing evened out and John began to talk, keeping his voice soft and even. 

“You did some research today on pregnancy to prepare for the coming months and the babies arrival, am I right?” 

Sherlock made a soft sound and nodded against John’s chest. 

“How did you come across that site, love?” 

Sherlock sniffled slightly and rubbed his face against John’s heat, taking in Johns soothing scent. It calmed the baby as much as it calmed him. 

“I looked through stuff on gestation and development. When I got to where I am now it was talking about the development of the spinal cord and specialized portions of the brain devoted to sensory input, all very fascinating” He rubbed his belly in an absentminded way as he continued. “Our baby is amazing John, growing so fast.” 

Sherlock shifted and his breathing speed up again as he went on. John shushed him and stroked a hand down his mates back as he talked. 

“I got to the end of the page and there was a link to an article about staying healthy during the most critical stages as well as what types of tests to have when. I clicked it and read about preeclampsia and things like anemia and deep vein thrombosis. They’re preventable and I made sure to memorize what to do to prevent them, but then I came across that site.” 

“I think I was already upset about the fact that my bad eating habits and past drug abuse could have harmed the baby even though I was doing so much better by the time I conceived. I clicked on that site and it made me realize that even if I do everything right, eat right, exercise, keep away from the hunt, our baby could suffer; our baby could die for no reason.” 

With this last sentiment Sherlock seemed to collapse in on himself again. Sagging against John, sniffling, and wiping his damp eyes he started again. 

“I was the one who convinced you that having this baby would be our greatest adventure, that we would be great parents. But you were right to doubt me; I’m going to be an atrocious parent. I’ve been doing dangerous experiments for years; what if something I’ve come into contact with has already influenced the baby’s development? Horrible birth defects can be caused by coming in contact that some of the chemicals I routinely used in my experiments. And what about the drugs? Years of drugs John!” 

Sherlock was panicking himself again and John had to stop it. He gave Sherlock a little shake, nothing to hurt him but enough to jar him from his rant. 

“Sherlock! Look at me baby. You are an incredibly smart man, but right now you are being unreasonable.” 

John let go of Sherlock to grab the computer and pull it over in front of them. “Look at this site love. You know that the medical journals are a consensus and they are creditable, right? That site you saw, if you had been thinking straight and not flooded with hormones you would have noticed that the author was trying to scare pregnant Omegas by sensationalizing and stretching the truth. Yes, those types of birth defects do happen, but they’re rare in female Omegas, and almost nonexistent in male Omegas. They are all detectable and if you are still worried about it after reading these medical articles we can have all the scans you need to feel comfortable.” 

Pushing the laptop into Sherlock’s hands he sat back, pulling Sherlock to rest between his legs, back to his chest. 

\--

John ran his hands up and down Sherlock’s legs, then his arms and finally resting his hands on Sherlock’s belly, caressing his unborn child. At almost six months along his stomach was huge compared to how it used to be. It was gorgeous to John, he loved the changes he saw in Sherlock’s body every day. Each little stretch mark and every little inch gained was a sign that their baby was healthy and growing. 

Some nights as Sherlock slept John would feel his way around Sherlock’s expanding belly. It was getting to the point that Sherlock could not sleep on his back any longer and that meant that he would face John, giving John the perfect excuse to form his body to his mates and feel the baby kick and wriggle inside him. 

\--

Sherlock sat back against John and allowed the sweeping motions to sooth him. Now that he was thinking clearly he knew that the site he had stumbled across was sensationalized and therefore not a reliable source of information. John was right, it had most likely been a sudden hormone storm that had shut down his higher reasoning and only left maternal instinct behind. Reading the articles on male Omega pregnancies, their risks and possible complications Sherlock felt like he could finally relax. He still wanted to get any scan that would alleviate the residual fears but for the most part John was right, male Omega pregnancies were incredibly safe, if not exactly comfortable. 

“Thank you John. Not only for talking me out of those unreasonable fears but also for handling my emotional outbursts so well.” 

John’s arms tightened around Sherlock and his hands came to a rest over their child. Every times John caressed the roundness that housed their child Sherlock felt an overwhelming sense of contentedness. 

Sherlock had never dared to hope for this kind of love, this acceptance. Growing up he resigned himself to the fact that his personality didn’t exactly lend to the happily ever after type of life, he’d given up on dreams of love and family long before John has limped into his life. He had been content with his mysteries before John showed up, but feeling the gentle kiss John placed on the back of his neck and the way their child squirmed under their entwined hands he knew that he had never known happiness before John. Now that they had that happiness there was nothing that could tear it away from them. 

\--

With John by his side they could handle anything. 

Even pregnancy hormones. 

\--


End file.
